Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) has revealed that the ongoing security operation by Kenya against the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) is a concerted effort with Ethiopian security forces. This operation, targeting “OLA camps” on both sides of the border, underscores a strategy where borderlines blur into zones of mutual concern and cooperation. What has led these two countries to act in unison against threats lurking at geographical seams?
On February 4, NISS issued a statement indicating that this operation arises from deliberations involving high-ranking security officials. Among those steering these discussions were Ethiopia’s Director General of NISS, Ambassador Redwan Hussein, and Kenya’s National Intelligence Service Director General, Noordin Mohamed Haji. These two figures are pivotal in a narrative where the whispers of intelligence become the clarion calls for action. The convergence of their strategic minds affirms an agreement between the nations to bolster “regional security and intelligence cooperation.” This statement was not just inked on paper but sealed by shared interests.
Only a day prior, Kenya’s National Police Service (NPS) had launched ‘Operation Ondoa Jangili,’ a campaign designed to uproot “criminals conducting illegal operations” across Marsabit and Isiolo counties. A statement released on February 3 by the NPS elucidated the mission’s core objective: to “flush out hideouts” linked to arms, drug trafficking, and more sinister activities like human trafficking and illegal mining. Could it be that in these counties’ ancient soils lay catalysts for modern-day perils?
Amidst these developments, the OLA responded with a defiant wave. Denouncing the alleged criminality, OLA emphasized its allegiance to respecting Kenya’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. With understated confidence, the group declared that a significant majority – “over 95%” – of their Southern Command forces are embedded deep within the landscape of Oromia, with only a modicum of presence nearing Kenyan borders. An interesting paradox lingers when OLA expressed readiness “to cooperate with Kenyan authorities” to eradicate cross-border criminality.
NISS, in its declarative stance, labeled OLA as a persistent “national security threat.” Accusations extended toward the group’s involvement in the insidious trades of “illegal weapons, human traffic, and minerals” and its dark hand in stoking ethnic discord. The two nations’ security forces, as NISS revealed, have been conducting “coordinated operations” targeting these hubs of insurrections nestled in the border regions. Already, it seems, these efforts have dealt noteworthy “human and material damage” to the OLA, an indicator of both tactical prowess and the gravity of these operations.
In retrospect, Ethiopia and Kenya had scribed their mutual understanding into an agreement as recently as August 2024, aiming to escalate security cooperation along their shared fringes. This memorandum, as detailed by NISS, enveloped aspects of “intelligence exchange and other security issues.” With every crossed ‘t’ and dotted ‘i,’ the unfolding document mirrored the lived realities of borderlands where threats transcend national markers.
Where coercive forces now mobilize, one might wonder, could an anecdote from history illuminate Ethiopia and Kenya’s contemporary military alliance? Or, perhaps, a reflective moment from a previous era might provide closure to the cyclical sands of conflict. As Anthony T. Hincks once wisely questioned, “If we don’t all work together, then none of us will have anything at all.” An axiom poignant enough to underline the significance of the synergy unfolding today between Ethiopia and Kenya.
While this operation represents a chapter in the regional struggle against insurgency and crime, it also serves as a testament. A testament to the inevitable intertwining of destinies across borders. And yet, the future tugs at the shadowed fringes — what lies ahead? How will these threads of cooperation mold the tapestry of peace and security? They invite introspection, beseeching the realization that peace is not a destination but a journey requiring constant reevaluation and mutual concert.
Edit By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring
